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Humidity in shipping containers

1. Relative humidity measures the amount of moisture in the air. It is expressed in a percentage of how much moisture the air could possibly hold. The wetter or damper the air is, the higher the relative humidity. The drier the air feels, the lower the relative humidity. Thus, 100% humidity is actually rain.

2. When stuffing a container in any climate, you also stuff the actual humidity contained in the air at the place of packing.

3. When closing the container, the humidity is contained in a very small space. As the container is moved from one climate to another, the humidity vaporizes up into the ceiling of the container, where it will start to rain down onto the cargo. Either the humidity will start to soak into the cargo or run along the surface of i e steel products. It can also turn into water that runs towards the bottom of the container. Nordic Container Desiccant actually “catches” the moisture before it vaporizes.

4. As soon as the climate changes, the moisture will either vaporize again or really start making trouble among your different products being shipped, if you do not use a desiccant. The longer the transportation time – the more damage may possibly develop.

5. You may have seen your cargo being loaded in perfect condition. But have you ever opened a container full of molded furniture? Or rusty motor equipment? Or rice sacks full of mildew? Or fruit covered in fungus? The customers do not like it. They will blame you. They will lose money and time, they will lose their customers and they will make claims to you. Then you will lose money and time, and possibly even the client. Since there are many parties along the transportation chain, many may be blamed for damaged goods – like manufacturers, traders, shipping lines and forwarders. Why be among them?

Container ships at the Port of Oakland (Photo credit: mental.masala)

6. Other desiccants being used are i.e. silica gel. Silica gel is the most common type of desiccant in use today. It is a porous sand and can absorb moisture in the air, often up to 40 % of it´s weight. However, silica gel absorbs moisture best in small, confined spaces and often end up getting saturated in a very short time span, making it unsuitable for container shipments. When saturated, it will not help catching the moisture anymore. Be aware that some silica gel – the blue contains cobolt – is toxic, and can not be disposed of any which way.

7. The best insurance there is – using Nordic Power Desiccants. The effect is 40 – 60 % better than other products in the market.